Simon Fraser, commonly known as the 17th Lord Lovat, (1911-1995), was the 25th Chief of the Clan Fraser and a prominent British Commando during World War II. He was seriously wounded during the invasion of Normandy in 1944 but went on to make a full recovery. In the post-war period he devoted much of his time to politics and looking after the family estates in the Beauly district.

In this audio extract, taken from an interview with Sam Marshall for Moray Firth Radio, Lord Lovat talks about his father, 16th Lord Lovat (1871-1933), who founded the Lovat Scouts in 1899.

'Well he was a very public-spirited man; he was chairman/convenor of the Inverness County Council; he was a public servant in the best sense of the word; he took immense pride in his estate; he was a great Highland chief; he was great sportsman; he set a great example; he raised the Lovat Scouts; he ended up as a general and was a good soldier. He was a fine man and he was immensely respected in the Highlands. And he was chairman of the Forestry Commission; he started the Forestry Commission. He rightly thought that we were going to be short of timber one day, as indeed we still are, but there was a better market for timber in those days. This is one of the things that worries me now. We buy in timber from overseas, from the Baltic, and for trade agreements with other countries, and home-grown timber doesn't hold the place it should in the UK. We only grow about nine per cent of our national requirements which just seems a pity. My father was also a great agriculturist as indeed his father was and his grandfather. All the best farms on the estate were reclaimed from the sea, like Easter and Wester Lovat, and all the area around the Bogroy Inn, that used to be salt water right up to Balachraggan Farm; it was all reclaimed'

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Lord Lovat talks about his father

INVERNESS: Kilmorack

1980s

Moray Firth Radio

MFR: Lord Lovat

Simon Fraser, commonly known as the 17th Lord Lovat, (1911-1995), was the 25th Chief of the Clan Fraser and a prominent British Commando during World War II. He was seriously wounded during the invasion of Normandy in 1944 but went on to make a full recovery. In the post-war period he devoted much of his time to politics and looking after the family estates in the Beauly district. <br />
<br />
In this audio extract, taken from an interview with Sam Marshall for Moray Firth Radio, Lord Lovat talks about his father, 16th Lord Lovat (1871-1933), who founded the Lovat Scouts in 1899.<br />
<br />
'Well he was a very public-spirited man; he was chairman/convenor of the Inverness County Council; he was a public servant in the best sense of the word; he took immense pride in his estate; he was a great Highland chief; he was great sportsman; he set a great example; he raised the Lovat Scouts; he ended up as a general and was a good soldier. He was a fine man and he was immensely respected in the Highlands. And he was chairman of the Forestry Commission; he started the Forestry Commission. He rightly thought that we were going to be short of timber one day, as indeed we still are, but there was a better market for timber in those days. This is one of the things that worries me now. We buy in timber from overseas, from the Baltic, and for trade agreements with other countries, and home-grown timber doesn't hold the place it should in the UK. We only grow about nine per cent of our national requirements which just seems a pity. My father was also a great agriculturist as indeed his father was and his grandfather. All the best farms on the estate were reclaimed from the sea, like Easter and Wester Lovat, and all the area around the Bogroy Inn, that used to be salt water right up to Balachraggan Farm; it was all reclaimed'